Rotundus.com

Despite having to get up at 4:30 this morning, my day thus far has been better than some others. On the drive to YVR this morning I had the opportunity to test the emergency mode of my cell phone. Shortly after Ryan and I got on highway 99 this morning, a vehicle a car or two ahead suddenly veered sharply left, ran across the opposing lanes and then rolled into the ditch(?) at the far side.

I, on the other hand, had a somewhat more pleasant trip this morning. No airport closures, as occurred on my trip west, and then a nice quick flight brought me back. It's only a short while until my family will be trekking out to Canmore for a week, and then the August long weekend I plan to be in Edmonton where I expect to run into a few people. Until next time...

One of the things that I've been pondering this weekend is just how much computer technology has become integrated into daily life. I think that one of the ways in which I have realized this more concretely is through the blogging world. Now that I'm an "out-of-towner" when I'm over to visit I find myself pestering others about their blogs and having others inquire more as to my electronic identity. (My Albertan friends aren't quite so addicted to this blogging thing.)

Sometimes I think up some rather odd ideas, but one of the things that I've discussed a little during my visit here is whether or not a birthday party should be held for Rotundus sometime soon (as the site turns 5 years old in August). We were discussing doing something really cheesy involving some dorky party hats and perhaps a custom cake. We'll have to see if anything materializes or not. Probably what even thinking about this really means is that I have too much time and money on my hands. We'll see what happens. Blogging is good and all, but its nice to meet more directly occasionally as well.

I wonder what sort of response a more general bloggers meeting somewhere in the Lower Mainland might receive. I guess that the challenge remains to ensure that enough people are involved that its not the usual groups that happen to meet together, but at the same time ensure that its restrictive enough that you'd at least know a few others there.

In other news, happy birthday to me!

I figure that I since I'll be headed to YVR on Thursday evening it's a good time to talk about airports and airplanes. As I may have mentioned before, my new place is not all that far from the airport. I've been adding more photos from around my new place to my photo gallery, and the most recent of these is a shot taken from the sidewalk to give you an idea just how close the airport is.

Last time I flew in, it was via Westjet which of course means a Boeing 737. This time I'll be flying Harmony Airways which just started Vancouver-Calgary flights about 2 weeks ago. Apparently this route uses Bombardier's CRJ-100 aircraft. I think that this may be the first Canadian-built plane that I'll have flown on.

Speaking of flights, I'm trying to figure out where I should travel from here. It's been probably more than a decade now since I've been in Ontario so I'm thinking that that might be worth a trip since I do have relatives there. Outside of flying into Hamilton or Ottawa - Toronto I'll avoid - I've also been thinking of flying to Montreal. If I'm to remain in academia, its not a bad idea to work on learning another language (although this has never been a particularly high priority) and Montreal should at least be somewhat different than English-Canada. Now that I'm no longer passport-less, international flights are also an option. I've been thinking of London, Amsterdam, or Paris as possible destinations. Somewhat pointed me to CheapFlights.ca in the past, so I may have to keep an idea out there to see if I can find some inexpensive travel destination.

"Far too many conservative critics of the contemporary worship style accuse those who favor it of shifting the focus from worship to entertainment. But this can easily become a cheap shot. After all, I've seen plenty of worship services in which the style of high culture provided the same entertainment value as the style of pop culture used in the church down the street. But even if one criticizes the CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) worship style for making the congregation an audience instead of the performers, this fails on at least two counts. First, it does not fairly describe CCM worship, at least in most of the contexts in which I have witnessed it. I do not doubt that advocates of the pop worhsip style and their congregations see themselves as heightening congregational participation in worship. And, for the most part, they have achieved this. ... My second objection to this common criticism is that it's just not very good, even if it were true. ... I have argued that the service is chiefly a matter of who God is and what he is doing for us. He is not entertaining us, to be sure. We are not in that sense an audience. But we are his covenant people, and his work for us in Word and deed is central; our response is just that - response - and should be treated as such in the service."

(Horton, A Better Way, p. 179).